My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.

Thanks

i

On Mar 30, 8:05*am, Ignoramus23509 ignoramus23...@NOSPAM.
23509.invalid wrote:
My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.

Thanks

i

Ig...thousands of others there have attempted the same thing after
suffering the same fate...and their lack of success is shown by the
dozens of "House for sale by bank" signs you find in any neighborhood
there.

Search Ebay based on his location and check out the finished auctions
that actually sold something to see some real data that supports my
opinion.

His best chance to gain income is to expand his job search
radius...and to start Ebaying anything within his four walls in
preparation of a move. Depending on where he is and his family status,
he could also rent out rooms to gain some immediate income to offset
the job loss.

Dependent on his ability to pay his mortgage for any reasonable length
of time, he is now likely one of the financial walking dead.

I wish him the best of luck...and tell him to not vote Republican.

TMT

"Ignoramus23509" wrote
in message
...
My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering
what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT
surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs
weight.

Thanks

i

I:

Just a quick one. I buy things from sources there. My
information
is partial and item-specific. In other words, your friend
needs a
more comprehensive approach. Have him go to ebay and search
folks in the business threre by using the feature limiting
finds to "items within X miles of". Identify sellers of
things
he has an expertise in assessing. Check their recent sales
history for nature, price and sales velocity of merchandise
sold. Simple. Your friend needs to walk surplus shops and
pull all auction notifications. If he does not have a
systematic
understanding, he does not have a systematic chance.

If he is doing auctions, one thing he will face is a steady
buyer
trying to group lots at the last minute to shut him out once
he
is identified as a potential competitor. Auctioneers may do
this. He should approach a ringman for the auctioneer and
indicate he wants to buy X--and express that he is
willing to pay the highest price that lot number.
The ringman will at some point communicate that to the
auctioneer. The auctioneer will want more money and
will now have a reason to not so readily amalgamate lots.

Regards,

Edward Hennessey

"Ignoramus23509" wrote in message
...
My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.

Thanks

i

Since the begininng of the year high tech companies here in Silicon Valley
have suddenly turned the spending tap wide open again, this is especially
true for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. I would concentrate on
getting a job in those industries if he has any applicable skills.

As others have mentioned, there is already a lot of competition recycling
used high-tech stuff, including several brick and mortar surplus outlets.

anorton wrote:

"Ignoramus23509" wrote in message
...
My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.

Thanks

i

Since the begininng of the year high tech companies here in Silicon
Valley have suddenly turned the spending tap wide open again, this is
especially true for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. I would
concentrate on getting a job in those industries if he has any
applicable skills.

As others have mentioned, there is already a lot of competition
recycling used high-tech stuff, including several brick and mortar
surplus outlets.


Buying and selling is like any other business, you have to know the
market and pricing. Scrap business is the easiest if you stick with the
basic metals. Every once in a while you hit it big getting some nickel
alloy from a company that doesn't know or care what the going price is.
A friend of mine pulled a pickup load of Iconel pipe out of a
chemical company that got about 10k at the scrapyard. He had the
contract to remove the piping.
Way back when I was young I would do the scrapyards around the Norfork
area and spend about $ 1000 while in the area. In three weeks I would
triple my money selling off the stuff I bought. Some examples were a
big box of rivnuts for five bucks.. they went for about .50 a piece and
I had ready buyers. New in the box Klixon circuit breakers by the box
and turn them over for 15 bucks each. There was one radar unit that had
a gold seal in it and if they didn't take the seal out you could get
about 50 bucks for the metal. Its all in knowing what you are buying
and where you can market it.

John

On 2011-03-30, john wrote:
anorton wrote:

"Ignoramus23509" wrote in message
...
My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.

Thanks

i

Since the begininng of the year high tech companies here in Silicon
Valley have suddenly turned the spending tap wide open again, this is
especially true for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. I would
concentrate on getting a job in those industries if he has any
applicable skills.

As others have mentioned, there is already a lot of competition
recycling used high-tech stuff, including several brick and mortar
surplus outlets.


Buying and selling is like any other business, you have to know the
market and pricing. Scrap business is the easiest if you stick with the
basic metals. Every once in a while you hit it big getting some nickel
alloy from a company that doesn't know or care what the going price is.
A friend of mine pulled a pickup load of Iconel pipe out of a
chemical company that got about 10k at the scrapyard. He had the
contract to remove the piping.
Way back when I was young I would do the scrapyards around the Norfork
area and spend about $ 1000 while in the area. In three weeks I would
triple my money selling off the stuff I bought. Some examples were a
big box of rivnuts for five bucks.. they went for about .50 a piece and
I had ready buyers. New in the box Klixon circuit breakers by the box
and turn them over for 15 bucks each. There was one radar unit that had
a gold seal in it and if they didn't take the seal out you could get
about 50 bucks for the metal. Its all in knowing what you are buying
and where you can market it.

I agree 100%. The trick is to know more than the seller. In fact, if I
encounter a seller who is very knowledgeable and seems to try to
negotiate a good deal, I do not even bother negotiating, I bail out
right away.

That said, they can't do scrap yard stuff due to living in an
apartment and not having a truck.

That's why I said under 40 lbs.

i

On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:05:21 -0500, Ignoramus23509
wrote:

My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.

Thanks

i

'Take a good hard look at Reliable Tools on Ebay and see if there is any
market at the moment.

I understand that machine tools sales went up over the last few months.

A few of the manufactures sold 1 machine, rather than none. A lot of
guys..employees of customers of mine have inquired about buying used
machinery. And Ive asked them frankly why they want to buy..and they
say because they arent getting enough hours where they work..so they
want to start their own shop.

When I ask them why their shop isnt getting much business..and what
makes them think they will be doing better, ....they stop and
ponder....and slink away.

Gunner, California, where 50% of the machine shops have gone out of
business in the past 24+ months.


--

"You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once."
Robert A. Heinlein

On 2011-03-30, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:05:21 -0500, Ignoramus23509
wrote:

My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.

Thanks

i

'Take a good hard look at Reliable Tools on Ebay and see if there is any
market at the moment.

I understand that machine tools sales went up over the last few months.

Yes, due to the robust Obama recovery, the machinery market for both
new and used machines, is very hot.

A few of the manufactures sold 1 machine, rather than none. A lot of
guys..employees of customers of mine have inquired about buying used
machinery. And Ive asked them frankly why they want to buy..and they
say because they arent getting enough hours where they work..so they
want to start their own shop.

When I ask them why their shop isnt getting much business..and what
makes them think they will be doing better, ....they stop and
ponder....and slink away.

Gunner, California, where 50% of the machine shops have gone out of
business in the past 24+ months.

What I know is that around here, machinery prices are extremely firm
right now, and money making machines (not hobby) sell quickly.
Welders, specifically are in very high demand.

I interpret this as a sign that manufacturing has recovered.

I rather liked the use machine market of 2 years ago, it was great to
be able to buy anything. Reselling also worked out well, at lower
prices. But now, liquidation auction prices are much closer to ebay
prices. Exceptions still abound, of course.

i

On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:53:58 -0500, Ignoramus23509
wrote:

On 2011-03-30, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:05:21 -0500, Ignoramus23509
wrote:

My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.

Thanks

i

'Take a good hard look at Reliable Tools on Ebay and see if there is any
market at the moment.

I understand that machine tools sales went up over the last few months.

Yes, due to the robust Obama recovery, the machinery market for both
new and used machines, is very hot.

Robust Obama recovery?

Where might that be? Texas? 3 of my clients moved to Texas in the last
24 months. Because there is little manufacturing here in the once 7th
largest economy in the world (now down to 27th by all accounts)


A few of the manufactures sold 1 machine, rather than none. A lot of
guys..employees of customers of mine have inquired about buying used
machinery. And Ive asked them frankly why they want to buy..and they
say because they arent getting enough hours where they work..so they
want to start their own shop.

When I ask them why their shop isnt getting much business..and what
makes them think they will be doing better, ....they stop and
ponder....and slink away.

Gunner, California, where 50% of the machine shops have gone out of
business in the past 24+ months.

What I know is that around here, machinery prices are extremely firm
right now, and money making machines (not hobby) sell quickly.
Welders, specifically are in very high demand.

I interpret this as a sign that manufacturing has recovered.

Or a sign that the double dip equation was ignored. Time will indeed
tell.


I rather liked the use machine market of 2 years ago, it was great to
be able to buy anything. Reselling also worked out well, at lower
prices. But now, liquidation auction prices are much closer to ebay
prices. Exceptions still abound, of course.

i

Yes they certainly do abound, dont they?

G

Gunner

--

"You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once."
Robert A. Heinlein

Ignoramus23509 wrote:

My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.
San Jose, Mountain View and the Oakland airport used to be a MECCA of
electronic and other surplus! I used to make a PILGRIMAGE there whenever
possible, and it was always an incredible journey. Halted Specialties,
HalTek, Weird Stuff Warehouse, Alltronics, Mike Quinn, Triangle Machinery
and a few others were just incredible places filled with the most
fascinating junk. Many of these outfits are gone, a few remain, I think.
There may be a few new ones that I failed to mention.

Since the 88" Cyclotron at Berkeley was closed to outside users, I haven't
been out there in a while, but have tried to keep up with what's going on
through the net.

Jon

On 2011-03-30, Jon Elson wrote:
Ignoramus23509 wrote:

My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.
San Jose, Mountain View and the Oakland airport used to be a MECCA of
electronic and other surplus! I used to make a PILGRIMAGE there whenever
possible, and it was always an incredible journey. Halted Specialties,
HalTek, Weird Stuff Warehouse, Alltronics, Mike Quinn, Triangle Machinery
and a few others were just incredible places filled with the most
fascinating junk. Many of these outfits are gone, a few remain, I think.
There may be a few new ones that I failed to mention.

Since the 88" Cyclotron at Berkeley was closed to outside users, I haven't
been out there in a while, but have tried to keep up with what's going on
through the net.

Jon


Jon, what I mean is surplus that is resellable on ebay.

Something that you buy for $50 and sell for $250, that sort of thing.

i

"Jon Elson" wrote in message
...
Ignoramus23509 wrote:

My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.
San Jose, Mountain View and the Oakland airport used to be a MECCA of
electronic and other surplus! I used to make a PILGRIMAGE there whenever
possible, and it was always an incredible journey. Halted Specialties,
HalTek, Weird Stuff Warehouse, Alltronics, Mike Quinn, Triangle Machinery
and a few others were just incredible places filled with the most
fascinating junk. Many of these outfits are gone, a few remain, I think.
There may be a few new ones that I failed to mention.

Since the 88" Cyclotron at Berkeley was closed to outside users, I haven't
been out there in a while, but have tried to keep up with what's going on
through the net.

Jon


Jon,

Halted, Weird Stuff, and Alltronics are still in business. Triangle
machinery just closed maybe a year or two ago. There are also many other
smaller surplus electronics places. There also seem to be several ebay-only
outlets that are based in this area. I agree, though, that the increased
proportion of software engineering in the valley has shrunk the size of the
surplus hardware market compared to 20 years ago.

Ignoramus23509 wrote:
On 2011-03-30, wrote:
anorton wrote:

id wrote in message
...
My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.

Thanks

i

Since the begininng of the year high tech companies here in Silicon
Valley have suddenly turned the spending tap wide open again, this is
especially true for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. I would
concentrate on getting a job in those industries if he has any
applicable skills.

As others have mentioned, there is already a lot of competition
recycling used high-tech stuff, including several brick and mortar
surplus outlets.


Buying and selling is like any other business, you have to know the
market and pricing. Scrap business is the easiest if you stick with the
basic metals. Every once in a while you hit it big getting some nickel
alloy from a company that doesn't know or care what the going price is.
A friend of mine pulled a pickup load of Iconel pipe out of a
chemical company that got about 10k at the scrapyard. He had the
contract to remove the piping.
Way back when I was young I would do the scrapyards around the Norfork
area and spend about $ 1000 while in the area. In three weeks I would
triple my money selling off the stuff I bought. Some examples were a
big box of rivnuts for five bucks.. they went for about .50 a piece and
I had ready buyers. New in the box Klixon circuit breakers by the box
and turn them over for 15 bucks each. There was one radar unit that had
a gold seal in it and if they didn't take the seal out you could get
about 50 bucks for the metal. Its all in knowing what you are buying
and where you can market it.

I agree 100%. The trick is to know more than the seller. In fact, if I
encounter a seller who is very knowledgeable and seems to try to
negotiate a good deal, I do not even bother negotiating, I bail out
right away.

That said, they can't do scrap yard stuff due to living in an
apartment and not having a truck.

That's why I said under 40 lbs.

i


You would be amazed as to what you can find in a good scrapyard. Last
year I happen to be dropping off some chips to the yard and what did
they have sitting there but a Monarch CNC vertical machining center ( I
think it was a vmc75B ) . As normal they busted one of the servo
motors and did some other damage when off loading it but the rest of the
parts were good. I paid them 500 bucks for any and all smaller parts
off the machine and then proceeded to take all the servo motors (red
cap), Fanuc 15 cnc control, cnc rotary table and a bunch of other
elcetronic and electrical parts. There were actually two machines that
came in, one the next day and they had the complete manuals with them.
it was a shame that they were both damaged because that machine can
really hog some metal and hold tight tolerances. So for a 3200 dollars
I sold the two spindle drive units and got more than my money back, and
I have been selling the rest of the stuff and got a return of more than
8/1 on my investment. Most all of the stuff I handled was less than 40
lbs. except for the spindle motor and maybe the rotary tables. Both
machines had Heidehan scales on them but I couldn't easily get the ones
on the Y axis out but did get the sliders . I did get the full units
with the amplifiers on the Z and the other amplifiers.

John

On 3/30/2011 9:23 AM, Jon Elson wrote:

San Jose, Mountain View and the Oakland airport used to be a MECCA of
electronic and other surplus! I used to make a PILGRIMAGE there whenever
possible, and it was always an incredible journey. Halted Specialties,
HalTek, Weird Stuff Warehouse, Alltronics, Mike Quinn, Triangle Machinery
and a few others were just incredible places filled with the most
fascinating junk. Many of these outfits are gone, a few remain, I think.
There may be a few new ones that I failed to mention.

Yup, been to all but Mike Quinn. I grew up in the neighborhood next to
Haltek and as a kid, scrounged their trash, along with many of the other
high tech companies in the area. Robb Jack was practically next door to
Haltek, but they never threw out anything interesting or useful.


Jon

On 2011-03-30, john wrote:
You would be amazed as to what you can find in a good scrapyard. Last
year I happen to be dropping off some chips to the yard and what did
they have sitting there but a Monarch CNC vertical machining center ( I
think it was a vmc75B ) . As normal they busted one of the servo
motors and did some other damage when off loading it but the rest of the
parts were good. I paid them 500 bucks for any and all smaller parts
off the machine and then proceeded to take all the servo motors (red
cap), Fanuc 15 cnc control, cnc rotary table and a bunch of other
elcetronic and electrical parts.

I hate you!

My heart just fscking BLEEDS when I read this!

This is what I want to do in retirement!

There were actually two machines that
came in, one the next day and they had the complete manuals with them.
it was a shame that they were both damaged because that machine can
really hog some metal and hold tight tolerances. So for a 3200 dollars
I sold the two spindle drive units and got more than my money back, and
I have been selling the rest of the stuff and got a return of more than
8/1 on my investment.

Awesome.

Most all of the stuff I handled was less than 40 lbs. except for the
spindle motor and maybe the rotary tables. Both machines had
Heidehan scales on them but I couldn't easily get the ones on the Y
axis out but did get the sliders . I did get the full units with
the amplifiers on the Z and the other amplifiers.

Sounds like some real fun.

I love that sort of stuff, personally.

When I was a three year old, I took apart a windup circus truck, and
never looked back since then.

i

On 2011-03-30, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:53:58 -0500, Ignoramus23509
wrote:

On 2011-03-30, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:05:21 -0500, Ignoramus23509
wrote:

My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.

Thanks

i

'Take a good hard look at Reliable Tools on Ebay and see if there is any
market at the moment.

I understand that machine tools sales went up over the last few months.

Yes, due to the robust Obama recovery, the machinery market for both
new and used machines, is very hot.

Robust Obama recovery?

Where might that be? Texas? 3 of my clients moved to Texas in the last
24 months. Because there is little manufacturing here in the once 7th
largest economy in the world (now down to 27th by all accounts)

Right here.

I rather liked the use machine market of 2 years ago, it was great to
be able to buy anything. Reselling also worked out well, at lower
prices. But now, liquidation auction prices are much closer to ebay
prices. Exceptions still abound, of course.

i

Yes they certainly do abound, dont they?


This is what makes life fun.

i

On 03/30/2011 11:05 AM, anorton wrote:

"Ignoramus23509" wrote in message
...
My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.

Thanks

i

Since the begininng of the year high tech companies here in Silicon
Valley have suddenly turned the spending tap wide open again, this is
especially true for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. I would
concentrate on getting a job in those industries if he has any
applicable skills.

As others have mentioned, there is already a lot of competition
recycling used high-tech stuff, including several brick and mortar
surplus outlets.

Semi processing gear has a short shelf life, as the fabs are always
chasing the next "node" or process shrinking. general purpose stuff
like valves, pumps, etc. are always good, but anything that is tied to
specifics of the process can get obsolete in a hurry. You can go from a
machine worth millions of $ to a pile of expensive scrap stainless worth
tens of thousands of $ awfully quickly.

A lot of network infrastructure may even be worse, it goes from valuable
current models to scrap that you have to pay to have hauled off.

Jon

On 03/30/2011 12:53 PM, Ignoramus23509 wrote:

Jon, what I mean is surplus that is resellable on ebay.

Something that you buy for $50 and sell for $250, that sort of thing.
Well, the remaining few of those will be the competition, both buying
and selling. I know Weird Stuff is still in business, and I think HSC
is, too. Alltronics has apparently opened up an online presence, too.
Mike Quinn was still out by the Oakland airport last time I was there.
These guys KNOW the business and have the warehouse space to work with
it. I think somebody working out of an apartment will have a HELL of a
time trying to do that business. What's he gonna do if he wins a bid
for a container load of old junk? Even if some of it is proverbial
gold, there will be a lot of junk that has to be sorted and dealt with.

Jon

On Mar 30, 11:44*am, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:05:21 -0500, Ignoramus23509

wrote:
My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.

Thanks

i

'Take a good hard look at Reliable Tools on Ebay and see if there is any
market at the moment.

I understand that machine tools sales went up over the last few months.

A few of the manufactures sold 1 machine, rather than none. *A lot of
guys..employees of customers of mine have inquired about buying used
machinery. *And Ive asked them frankly why they want to buy..and they
say because they arent getting enough hours where they work..so they
want to start their own shop.

When I ask them why their shop isnt getting much business..and what
makes them think they will be doing better, ....they stop and
ponder....and slink away.

Gunner, California, where 50% of the machine shops have gone out of
business in the past 24+ months.

--

"You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once."
* * * * * * * * * * *Robert A. Heinlein

Cite please.

TMT

On Mar 30, 11:53*am, Ignoramus23509 ignoramus23...@NOSPAM.
23509.invalid wrote:
On 2011-03-30, Gunner Asch wrote:

On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:05:21 -0500, Ignoramus23509
wrote:

My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.

Thanks

i

'Take a good hard look at Reliable Tools on Ebay and see if there is any
market at the moment.

I understand that machine tools sales went up over the last few months.

Yes, due to the robust Obama recovery, the machinery market for both
new and used machines, is very hot.

A few of the manufactures sold 1 machine, rather than none. *A lot of
guys..employees of customers of mine have inquired about buying used
machinery. *And Ive asked them frankly why they want to buy..and they
say because they arent getting enough hours where they work..so they
want to start their own shop.

When I ask them why their shop isnt getting much business..and what
makes them think they will be doing better, ....they stop and
ponder....and slink away.

Gunner, California, where 50% of the machine shops have gone out of
business in the past 24+ months.

What I know is that around here, machinery prices are extremely firm
right now, and money making machines (not hobby) sell quickly.
Welders, specifically are in very high demand.

I interpret this as a sign that manufacturing has recovered.

I rather liked the use machine market of 2 years ago, it was great to
be able to buy anything. Reselling also worked out well, at lower
prices. But now, liquidation auction prices are much closer to ebay
prices. Exceptions still abound, of course.

i

Used prices have been that way for about 1.5 yr now.

Companies need equipment and cannnot/will not spend on new equipment.

This will continue until business gets off their butts and start
hiring.

TMT

On Mar 30, 12:22*pm, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:53:58 -0500, Ignoramus23509





wrote:
On 2011-03-30, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:05:21 -0500, Ignoramus23509
wrote:

My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.

Thanks

i

'Take a good hard look at Reliable Tools on Ebay and see if there is any
market at the moment.

I understand that machine tools sales went up over the last few months..

Yes, due to the robust Obama recovery, the machinery market for both
new and used machines, is very hot.

Robust Obama recovery?

Where might that be? *Texas? 3 of my clients moved to Texas in the last
24 months. Because there is little manufacturing here in the once 7th
largest economy in the world (now down to 27th by all accounts)







A few of the manufactures sold 1 machine, rather than none. *A lot of
guys..employees of customers of mine have inquired about buying used
machinery. *And Ive asked them frankly why they want to buy..and they
say because they arent getting enough hours where they work..so they
want to start their own shop.

When I ask them why their shop isnt getting much business..and what
makes them think they will be doing better, ....they stop and
ponder....and slink away.

Gunner, California, where 50% of the machine shops have gone out of
business in the past 24+ months.

What I know is that around here, machinery prices are extremely firm
right now, and money making machines (not hobby) sell quickly.
Welders, specifically are in very high demand.

I interpret this as a sign that manufacturing has recovered.

Or a sign that the double dip equation was ignored. *Time will indeed
tell.



I rather liked the use machine market of 2 years ago, it was great to
be able to buy anything. Reselling also worked out well, at lower
prices. But now, liquidation auction prices are much closer to ebay
prices. Exceptions still abound, of course.

i

Yes they certainly do abound, dont they?

G

Gunner

--

"You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once."
* * * * * * * * * * *Robert A. Heinlein- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

So why don't you move to Texas Gummer...you know...where the jobs are.

Kids are gone, the old lady is gone, the jobs are gone...so why are
you rotting in Taft?

TMT

TMT

On Mar 30, 2:14*pm, Jon Elson wrote:
On 03/30/2011 12:53 PM, Ignoramus23509 wrote:

Jon, what I mean is surplus that is resellable on ebay.

Something that you buy for $50 and sell for $250, that sort of thing.

Well, the remaining few of those will be the competition, both buying
and selling. *I know Weird Stuff is still in business, and I think HSC
is, too. *Alltronics has apparently opened up an online presence, too.
Mike Quinn was still out by the Oakland airport last time I was there.
These guys KNOW the business and have the warehouse space to work with
it. *I think somebody working out of an apartment will have a HELL of a
time trying to do that business. *What's he gonna do if he wins a bid
for a container load of old junk? *Even if some of it is proverbial
gold, there will be a lot of junk that has to be sorted and dealt with.

Jon

Living in an apartment is an advantage..they have no house to tie them
to the area.

Trying to do surplus out of an apartment with a wife present is a
guaranteed divorce in the making.

TMT

On 2011-03-30, Jon Elson wrote:
On 03/30/2011 12:53 PM, Ignoramus23509 wrote:

Jon, what I mean is surplus that is resellable on ebay.

Something that you buy for $50 and sell for $250, that sort of thing.
Well, the remaining few of those will be the competition, both buying
and selling. I know Weird Stuff is still in business, and I think HSC
is, too. Alltronics has apparently opened up an online presence, too.
Mike Quinn was still out by the Oakland airport last time I was there.
These guys KNOW the business and have the warehouse space to work with
it. I think somebody working out of an apartment will have a HELL of a
time trying to do that business. What's he gonna do if he wins a bid
for a container load of old junk? Even if some of it is proverbial
gold, there will be a lot of junk that has to be sorted and dealt with.

Jon

Jon, I doubt that buying from professional surplus stores is going to
be profitable.

As for buying a container of stuff, it may be too much, but a few
pallets of stuff can be bought and resold. A storage cell may hold
quite a bit of stuff too.

i

On Mar 30, 5:57*pm, Ignoramus23509 ignoramus23...@NOSPAM.
23509.invalid wrote:
On 2011-03-30, Jon Elson wrote:





On 03/30/2011 12:53 PM, Ignoramus23509 wrote:

Jon, what I mean is surplus that is resellable on ebay.

Something that you buy for $50 and sell for $250, that sort of thing.
Well, the remaining few of those will be the competition, both buying
and selling. *I know Weird Stuff is still in business, and I think HSC
is, too. *Alltronics has apparently opened up an online presence, too..
Mike Quinn was still out by the Oakland airport last time I was there.
These guys KNOW the business and have the warehouse space to work with
it. *I think somebody working out of an apartment will have a HELL of a
time trying to do that business. *What's he gonna do if he wins a bid
for a container load of old junk? *Even if some of it is proverbial
gold, there will be a lot of junk that has to be sorted and dealt with.

Jon

Jon, I doubt that buying from professional surplus stores is going to
be profitable.

As for buying a container of stuff, it may be too much, but a few
pallets of stuff can be bought and resold. A storage cell may hold
quite a bit of stuff too.

i- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Buying from a professional surplus storre WILL NOT be profitable if
one is then reselling to Ebay.

The store has already taken any profit margin worth taking.

I can also tell you that the surplus auctions that I bid on (simiilar
to the mix you would expect out of the Valley) are very
competitive...translation = profit margin for the resellers are slim.

I also note that the scrappers for metal are active...so any ready
source of scrap is already been scoped out and has a buyer.

TMT

On Mar 30, 8:05*am, Ignoramus23509 ignoramus23...@NOSPAM.
23509.invalid wrote:
My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.

Thanks

i

What does your friend have for job skills?

TMT

On 3/30/2011 2:41 PM, Ignoramus23509 wrote:

Sounds like some real fun.

I love that sort of stuff, personally.


Let me tell you about my wife's Uncle Chick (uncle by courtesy, really a
friend of her grandfather). Sort of retired. Had a couple of hundred
acres in upstate New York surrounding a small lake/pond, adjacent to
110,000 acres of state forest. Big metal barn/shop with a sawmill down
one side of it, set up as a large bay to hold the trucks, crawler, and
other toys, with a loading dock (inside) for the machine shop in the
back of the building. Chick would read "The Pennysaver" and drive all
over that part of the state for machinery to restore. All kinds of
things. One I remember was a one yard concrete mixer driven by a hit or
miss engine. He sold it to a guy in the precast concrete business.
He would walk out to the shop in the morning and not come back in the
house until 4:00, just like he was still working in a factory.
Everyone visited Chick and his wife; he had a little resort with shop.
Things to do for everyone. When he passed away, his widow sold the place
to a fellow who restored antique aircraft.

Kevin Gallimore

Ignoramus23509 wrote:
On 2011-03-30, wrote:
You would be amazed as to what you can find in a good scrapyard. Last
year I happen to be dropping off some chips to the yard and what did
they have sitting there but a Monarch CNC vertical machining center ( I
think it was a vmc75B ) . As normal they busted one of the servo
motors and did some other damage when off loading it but the rest of the
parts were good. I paid them 500 bucks for any and all smaller parts
off the machine and then proceeded to take all the servo motors (red
cap), Fanuc 15 cnc control, cnc rotary table and a bunch of other
elcetronic and electrical parts.

I hate you!

My heart just fscking BLEEDS when I read this!

This is what I want to do in retirement!

There were actually two machines that
came in, one the next day and they had the complete manuals with them.
it was a shame that they were both damaged because that machine can
really hog some metal and hold tight tolerances. So for a 3200 dollars
I sold the two spindle drive units and got more than my money back, and
I have been selling the rest of the stuff and got a return of more than
8/1 on my investment.

Awesome.

Most all of the stuff I handled was less than 40 lbs. except for the
spindle motor and maybe the rotary tables. Both machines had
Heidehan scales on them but I couldn't easily get the ones on the Y
axis out but did get the sliders . I did get the full units with
the amplifiers on the Z and the other amplifiers.

Sounds like some real fun.

I love that sort of stuff, personally.

When I was a three year old, I took apart a windup circus truck, and
never looked back since then.

i


When I was five i managed to get a automobile starter to play with. I
happened to go with my father to a dump and the starter was lying on
the pile of scrap. It was telling me " TAKE ME HOME" so I wound up
with it. I managed to disassemble it but I couldn't get the field
magnets out since I didn't have the right tools to remove the flathead
screw that held them in.


John

On Mar 30, 8:05*am, Ignoramus23509 ignoramus23...@NOSPAM.
23509.invalid wrote:
My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.

Thanks

i

Ig, in the Valley I would think that services would sell faster than
stuff. Those who are working are working considerable OT..and the last
thing most of them want to do is handyman stuff...could your friend do
that to tide him over?

TMT

Ignoramus23509 wrote:
On 2011-03-30, Jon wrote:
On 03/30/2011 12:53 PM, Ignoramus23509 wrote:

Jon, what I mean is surplus that is resellable on ebay.

Something that you buy for $50 and sell for $250, that sort of thing.
Well, the remaining few of those will be the competition, both buying
and selling. I know Weird Stuff is still in business, and I think HSC
is, too. Alltronics has apparently opened up an online presence, too.
Mike Quinn was still out by the Oakland airport last time I was there.
These guys KNOW the business and have the warehouse space to work with
it. I think somebody working out of an apartment will have a HELL of a
time trying to do that business. What's he gonna do if he wins a bid
for a container load of old junk? Even if some of it is proverbial
gold, there will be a lot of junk that has to be sorted and dealt with.

Jon

Jon, I doubt that buying from professional surplus stores is going to
be profitable.

As for buying a container of stuff, it may be too much, but a few
pallets of stuff can be bought and resold. A storage cell may hold
quite a bit of stuff too.

i


I once bought containers of electronic scrap from the government and
that was fun. It was like a grab bag. You never really knew what you
bought until you started to sort it out. The trick was to see what was
on top of the pile and bid on that or what you could immediately turn it
over for and the rest of it you would turn into profit. Scrap out the
junk and hold the good stuff. Fix what you can so you get the highest
dollar for it. I sold a lot of stuff to electronic dealers like Tucker
Electronics. I handled a lot of HP stuff like the 608 series of vhf
signal generators and the 524 series freq. counters. as well as a lot of
other HP stuff. The HP equipment was an easy sell since it was top
quality equipment.
I did one deal with some Dumont scopes I think they were 336 models.
The big problem with them was the black beauty caps that they used that
would drift all over the place.
They got replaced with vitamin Q 's . That made them a real nice
scope. I sold a bunch of them to a manufacturer for assembly line
testing.


John

On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 20:27:40 -0400, John
wrote:

Ignoramus23509 wrote:
On 2011-03-30, wrote:
You would be amazed as to what you can find in a good scrapyard. Last
year I happen to be dropping off some chips to the yard and what did
they have sitting there but a Monarch CNC vertical machining center ( I
think it was a vmc75B ) . As normal they busted one of the servo
motors and did some other damage when off loading it but the rest of the
parts were good. I paid them 500 bucks for any and all smaller parts
off the machine and then proceeded to take all the servo motors (red
cap), Fanuc 15 cnc control, cnc rotary table and a bunch of other
elcetronic and electrical parts.

I hate you!

My heart just fscking BLEEDS when I read this!

This is what I want to do in retirement!

There were actually two machines that
came in, one the next day and they had the complete manuals with them.
it was a shame that they were both damaged because that machine can
really hog some metal and hold tight tolerances. So for a 3200 dollars
I sold the two spindle drive units and got more than my money back, and
I have been selling the rest of the stuff and got a return of more than
8/1 on my investment.

Awesome.

Most all of the stuff I handled was less than 40 lbs. except for the
spindle motor and maybe the rotary tables. Both machines had
Heidehan scales on them but I couldn't easily get the ones on the Y
axis out but did get the sliders . I did get the full units with
the amplifiers on the Z and the other amplifiers.

Sounds like some real fun.

I love that sort of stuff, personally.

When I was a three year old, I took apart a windup circus truck, and
never looked back since then.

i


When I was five i managed to get a automobile starter to play with. I
happened to go with my father to a dump and the starter was lying on
the pile of scrap. It was telling me " TAKE ME HOME" so I wound up
with it. I managed to disassemble it but I couldn't get the field
magnets out since I didn't have the right tools to remove the flathead
screw that held them in.


John
Had that problem with an old (1950) Lucas starter, took it to a
welding shop where short pieces of 3/8 rod were welded across the tops
of the screws then just tap them loose with a hammer. After the field
coils were replaced, just tighten with a hammer. the modification was
still in place when I got rid of the car.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

"Gerald Miller" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 20:27:40 -0400, John
wrote:

Ignoramus23509 wrote:
On 2011-03-30, wrote:
You would be amazed as to what you can find in a good scrapyard. Last
year I happen to be dropping off some chips to the yard and what did
they have sitting there but a Monarch CNC vertical machining center ( I
think it was a vmc75B ) . As normal they busted one of the servo
motors and did some other damage when off loading it but the rest of
the
parts were good. I paid them 500 bucks for any and all smaller parts
off the machine and then proceeded to take all the servo motors (red
cap), Fanuc 15 cnc control, cnc rotary table and a bunch of other
elcetronic and electrical parts.

I hate you!

My heart just fscking BLEEDS when I read this!

This is what I want to do in retirement!

There were actually two machines that
came in, one the next day and they had the complete manuals with them.
it was a shame that they were both damaged because that machine can
really hog some metal and hold tight tolerances. So for a 3200
dollars
I sold the two spindle drive units and got more than my money back, and
I have been selling the rest of the stuff and got a return of more than
8/1 on my investment.

Awesome.

Most all of the stuff I handled was less than 40 lbs. except for the
spindle motor and maybe the rotary tables. Both machines had
Heidehan scales on them but I couldn't easily get the ones on the Y
axis out but did get the sliders . I did get the full units with
the amplifiers on the Z and the other amplifiers.

Sounds like some real fun.

I love that sort of stuff, personally.

When I was a three year old, I took apart a windup circus truck, and
never looked back since then.

i


When I was five i managed to get a automobile starter to play with. I
happened to go with my father to a dump and the starter was lying on
the pile of scrap. It was telling me " TAKE ME HOME" so I wound up
with it. I managed to disassemble it but I couldn't get the field
magnets out since I didn't have the right tools to remove the flathead
screw that held them in.


John
Had that problem with an old (1950) Lucas starter, took it to a
welding shop where short pieces of 3/8 rod were welded across the tops
of the screws then just tap them loose with a hammer. After the field
coils were replaced, just tighten with a hammer. the modification was
still in place when I got rid of the car.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

1950 Lucas starter....isn't that what we used to call a hand crank? d8-)

--
Ed Huntress

Ed Huntress wrote:
"Gerald wrote in message
...
On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 20:27:40 -0400,
wrote:

Ignoramus23509 wrote:
On 2011-03-30, wrote:
You would be amazed as to what you can find in a good scrapyard. Last
year I happen to be dropping off some chips to the yard and what did
they have sitting there but a Monarch CNC vertical machining center ( I
think it was a vmc75B ) . As normal they busted one of the servo
motors and did some other damage when off loading it but the rest of
the
parts were good. I paid them 500 bucks for any and all smaller parts
off the machine and then proceeded to take all the servo motors (red
cap), Fanuc 15 cnc control, cnc rotary table and a bunch of other
elcetronic and electrical parts.

I hate you!

My heart just fscking BLEEDS when I read this!

This is what I want to do in retirement!

There were actually two machines that
came in, one the next day and they had the complete manuals with them.
it was a shame that they were both damaged because that machine can
really hog some metal and hold tight tolerances. So for a 3200
dollars
I sold the two spindle drive units and got more than my money back, and
I have been selling the rest of the stuff and got a return of more than
8/1 on my investment.

Awesome.

Most all of the stuff I handled was less than 40 lbs. except for the
spindle motor and maybe the rotary tables. Both machines had
Heidehan scales on them but I couldn't easily get the ones on the Y
axis out but did get the sliders . I did get the full units with
the amplifiers on the Z and the other amplifiers.

Sounds like some real fun.

I love that sort of stuff, personally.

When I was a three year old, I took apart a windup circus truck, and
never looked back since then.

i


When I was five i managed to get a automobile starter to play with. I
happened to go with my father to a dump and the starter was lying on
the pile of scrap. It was telling me " TAKE ME HOME" so I wound up
with it. I managed to disassemble it but I couldn't get the field
magnets out since I didn't have the right tools to remove the flathead
screw that held them in.


John
Had that problem with an old (1950) Lucas starter, took it to a
welding shop where short pieces of 3/8 rod were welded across the tops
of the screws then just tap them loose with a hammer. After the field
coils were replaced, just tighten with a hammer. the modification was
still in place when I got rid of the car.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

1950 Lucas starter....isn't that what we used to call a hand crank? d8-)


Lucas the prince of darkness


John

On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:34:01 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:


"Gerald Miller" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 20:27:40 -0400, John
wrote:


When I was five i managed to get a automobile starter to play with. I
happened to go with my father to a dump and the starter was lying on
the pile of scrap. It was telling me " TAKE ME HOME" so I wound up
with it. I managed to disassemble it but I couldn't get the field
magnets out since I didn't have the right tools to remove the flathead
screw that held them in.


John
Had that problem with an old (1950) Lucas starter, took it to a
welding shop where short pieces of 3/8 rod were welded across the tops
of the screws then just tap them loose with a hammer. After the field
coils were replaced, just tighten with a hammer. the modification was
still in place when I got rid of the car.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

1950 Lucas starter....isn't that what we used to call a hand crank? d8-)
That was the often used back up system on the '50 Austin A40, between
that and a gentle push by the riders.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

On 2011-03-31, Gerald Miller wrote:
On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:34:01 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:

[ ... ]

1950 Lucas starter....isn't that what we used to call a hand crank? d8-)
That was the often used back up system on the '50 Austin A40, between
that and a gentle push by the riders.

My MGAs (1957 and 1962 IIRC) both had a hand crank and a hole
for it in the front of the front bumper. I actually used that a few
time, especially in really cold weather when the batteries just could
not crank it enough. Stick a 2x4 holding the gas pedal down, go up
front and crank it to start, then run back to kick out the 2x4 before
the engine over-reved. :-) This was back in the mid to late 1960s, FWIW.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
On 2011-03-31, Gerald Miller wrote:
On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:34:01 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:

[ ... ]

1950 Lucas starter....isn't that what we used to call a hand crank? d8-)
That was the often used back up system on the '50 Austin A40, between
that and a gentle push by the riders.

My MGAs (1957 and 1962 IIRC) both had a hand crank and a hole
for it in the front of the front bumper. I actually used that a few
time, especially in really cold weather when the batteries just could
not crank it enough. Stick a 2x4 holding the gas pedal down, go up
front and crank it to start, then run back to kick out the 2x4 before
the engine over-reved. :-) This was back in the mid to late 1960s, FWIW.

Enjoy,
DoN.

My '67 MG Midget had a socket for it in the crank pulley, but no way to get
to it through the radiator or the grill. g

So, if you were going to use it, I guess you were supposed to punch a hole
in the radiator first...

Once the Brits make something that works, they don't like to change it, even
when it becomes irrelevant.

--
Ed Huntress

On 2011-03-30, Jon Elson wrote:

[ ... ]

A lot of network infrastructure may even be worse, it goes from valuable
current models to scrap that you have to pay to have hauled off.

Yes -- depending on your needs. I've been bringing up a
collection of six Sun Fire V120 (1U rack-mount machines). They have
only one PCI slot, so in the ones which are to be acting as firewalls
(where I need three ports -- inside, outside, and a wireless bridge link
to a friend's net) I have to use the PCI slot as the third NIC (ethernet
interface.) There are two built into the system, but no framebuffer
(known as a graphics card to the PC world), so I have to use the serial
port as a console on those machines, and might as well for all but one
of the others (mail servers and web servers). So -- I was looking at
the hamfest for a 1U set of RJ-45 connectors to use to allow me to
jumper the serial out of the one machine with a framebuffer to the
console/LOM port of the others.

But -- while I was at the hamfest, I spotted a Lucent PortMaster
2E terminal server. The kind of thing which an ISP would use to support
30 customer dial-in lines to connect via ethernet to various computers
where they would have shell accounts. It supports PPP and SLIP among
other things.

But -- it can also be configured for dial-out modems, or to
connect to other devices via the RS-232 ports -- thus a box which could
handle all six of the machines in question, plus a few others of
potential interest as well.

The price? $1.00. There was no way that I could not take the
chance that it would work -- and after a lot of downloading and printing
of manual PDF files, I have it configured to do just what I want. Lets
me talk to the console ports from anywhere in my internal net. (No way
I am going to make it visible to the outside net. :-)

I was thinking that a $30.00 price would be enough to go for it,
and when the vendor said $1.00, I got it instantly.

FWIW -- current eBay prices are between $15.69 and $299.00 (that
last price for just one board from the system). I hate to think what it
cost when new. The various boards for it will handle up to ISDN as well
as PPP and SLIP -- but apparently not (A)DSL so they are being retired
-- until they find someone with a different need for them. Not the kind
of thing which would provide income for a vendor, but good for a
retired network admin who likes to keep his hand in.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On Thu, 31 Mar 2011 23:45:05 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:


"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
On 2011-03-31, Gerald Miller wrote:
On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:34:01 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:

[ ... ]

1950 Lucas starter....isn't that what we used to call a hand crank? d8-)
That was the often used back up system on the '50 Austin A40, between
that and a gentle push by the riders.

My MGAs (1957 and 1962 IIRC) both had a hand crank and a hole
for it in the front of the front bumper. I actually used that a few
time, especially in really cold weather when the batteries just could
not crank it enough. Stick a 2x4 holding the gas pedal down, go up
front and crank it to start, then run back to kick out the 2x4 before
the engine over-reved. :-) This was back in the mid to late 1960s, FWIW.

Enjoy,
DoN.

My '67 MG Midget had a socket for it in the crank pulley, but no way to get
to it through the radiator or the grill. g

So, if you were going to use it, I guess you were supposed to punch a hole
in the radiator first...

Once the Brits make something that works, they don't like to change it, even
when it becomes irrelevant.
Besides, that nut on the front end of the crankshaft was a standard
design that the union shop that made them refused to modify and have
all their workers require retraining.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

On Wed, 30 Mar 2011 14:14:01 -0400, john wrote:

Ignoramus23509 wrote:
On 2011-03-30, wrote:
anorton wrote:

id wrote in message
...
My friend lost his job in San Jose, CA. I am wondering what is the
auction/surplus situation there, with industrial/IT surplus stuff that
can be resold on ebay? I would say stuff under 40 lbs weight.

Thanks

i

Since the begininng of the year high tech companies here in Silicon
Valley have suddenly turned the spending tap wide open again, this is
especially true for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. I would
concentrate on getting a job in those industries if he has any
applicable skills.

As others have mentioned, there is already a lot of competition
recycling used high-tech stuff, including several brick and mortar
surplus outlets.


Buying and selling is like any other business, you have to know the
market and pricing. Scrap business is the easiest if you stick with the
basic metals. Every once in a while you hit it big getting some nickel
alloy from a company that doesn't know or care what the going price is.
A friend of mine pulled a pickup load of Iconel pipe out of a
chemical company that got about 10k at the scrapyard. He had the
contract to remove the piping.
Way back when I was young I would do the scrapyards around the Norfork
area and spend about $ 1000 while in the area. In three weeks I would
triple my money selling off the stuff I bought. Some examples were a
big box of rivnuts for five bucks.. they went for about .50 a piece and
I had ready buyers. New in the box Klixon circuit breakers by the box
and turn them over for 15 bucks each. There was one radar unit that had
a gold seal in it and if they didn't take the seal out you could get
about 50 bucks for the metal. Its all in knowing what you are buying
and where you can market it.

I agree 100%. The trick is to know more than the seller. In fact, if I
encounter a seller who is very knowledgeable and seems to try to
negotiate a good deal, I do not even bother negotiating, I bail out
right away.

That said, they can't do scrap yard stuff due to living in an
apartment and not having a truck.

That's why I said under 40 lbs.

i


You would be amazed as to what you can find in a good scrapyard. Last
year I happen to be dropping off some chips to the yard and what did
they have sitting there but a Monarch CNC vertical machining center ( I
think it was a vmc75B ) . As normal they busted one of the servo
motors and did some other damage when off loading it but the rest of the
parts were good. I paid them 500 bucks for any and all smaller parts
off the machine and then proceeded to take all the servo motors (red
cap), Fanuc 15 cnc control, cnc rotary table and a bunch of other
elcetronic and electrical parts. There were actually two machines that
came in, one the next day and they had the complete manuals with them.
it was a shame that they were both damaged because that machine can
really hog some metal and hold tight tolerances. So for a 3200 dollars
I sold the two spindle drive units and got more than my money back, and
I have been selling the rest of the stuff and got a return of more than
8/1 on my investment. Most all of the stuff I handled was less than 40
lbs. except for the spindle motor and maybe the rotary tables. Both
machines had Heidehan scales on them but I couldn't easily get the ones
on the Y axis out but did get the sliders . I did get the full units
with the amplifiers on the Z and the other amplifiers.

John

Bravo!! Very very well done Sir!!

Gunner

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"You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once."
Robert A. Heinlein